India vs West Indies 1st ODI: Jadeja, Kuldeep set up easy win as Rohit Sharma experiments with batting order

India began the ODI series against West Indies with a five-wicket win in the first match at Barbados on Thursday as spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav emerged as the match-winners. The first ODI also saw India experiment with their batting order as skipper Rohit Sharma and ODI great Virat Kohli dropped down to allow game time to middle-order batters.

After Jadeja (3/37 in 6 overs) and Kuldeep (4/6 in 3 overs) set it up beautifully, shooting out the Windies for 114 in 23 overs, Ishan Kishan helped himself to a half-century (52 off 46 balls) in India’s successful chase in just 22.5 overs.

With 12 ODI matches in hand to find the perfect combination and some pieces of the puzzle still to be fixed before the World Cup, Rahul Dravid and Rohit’s decision to give game time to middle-order batters was a welcome move.

Starting the ODI series on a winning note